Tropical Storm Sara is expected to make landfall along the coast of Belize on Sunday, but will lose organization before its remnants make their way into the Gulf of Mexico and are sucked back east toward Florida next week.
As of the National Hurricane Center advisory at 7 a.m., Sara was located approximately 60 miles south-southeast of Belize City and moving west-northwest at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds of 37 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend for 170 kilometers.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Bay Islands of Honduras, the Caribbean Sea coast of Guatemala, the coast of Belize and the coast of Mexico from Puerto Costa Maya south to Chetumal.
“Only minor fluctuations in strength are expected until landfall,” forecasters said. “Weakening is forecast after the storm moves inland, with spread across the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula expected this evening or Monday.”
The slow-moving storm is forecast to drop as much as 12 inches of rain over parts of northern Honduras and as much as 6 inches over the rest of Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala, western Nicaragua and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. the threat of flash floods and mudslides.
The slow-moving storm is forecast to drop as much as 12 inches of rain over parts of northern Honduras and as much as 6 inches over the rest of Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, eastern Guatemala, western Nicaragua and the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. the threat of flash floods and mudslides.
Long-term weather models still predict that the remaining low-pressure system will then steer back east through the Gulf of Mexico. What’s left could impact Florida on Wednesday.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season produced 18 named storms, 11 of which became hurricanes. The season runs from June 1 to November. 30.
